Oil cup



June 16, 1925. 1,542,044

L. C. DUTRO OIL CUP Filed July 26, 1923 16 iii o O 6 O 1/ WITNESSES vINVENT L e w 0. But I I v aka 5AM ,4 TTORNE Y8 Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED STATES LESLIE CARL DUTRO, OF LONG BEJFUGH, CALIU'IFTBNIA. i

on. our.

Application filed July 26, 1923.

To all whom it my concern: I

Be it known that I, LESLIE CARL Do'rno, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have in' vented a new and Improved Oil Cup, of which thefollowing is a full, clear and exact description.

This invention relates to oiling devices for engines either gas, air orsteam and has for an object to provide an improved construction whichwill automatically feed a. given quantity of oil during the operation ofthe engine and will automatically stop the feeding of oil when theengine stops.

operating;

Another object of the invention is to provide an oil cup for engineswherein the quantity of oil fed into the engine is in proportion to thenumber of reciprocation in the piston of the engine. 3 A still furtherobject of the invention is to provide an oil cup which may feed eitherwarm or cold oil and which acts under the compression of the cylinder ofthe engine so that the feed is positive. y

In the accompanying drawing The figure is a longitudinal verticalsection through part ofan engine cylinder and through an 'oil cupdisclosing an embodiment of'the invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, 1 indicatesthe'cylinder of an engine of any desired type, .as for instance, aninternal combustion engine, air or steam engine. Arranged in the engineis a piston 2 which mov es back and forth as the en gine operates. Atubular member 3 is threaded into the cylinder 1 near the compressionend of the cylinder and preferably at the point where the head ofthepiston stops before sai d piston changes its direction of travelwhereby the end of the passage-way 4 is closed at the beginning of thepower stroke but is shortly opened thereafter so that part of the powergaseous matter, as

for instance, air, steam or explosive mixture,

may enter the passage-way 4 and from thence pass the needle valve 5 soas to be discharged through the tube 6 into the cup 7. Preferabl theouter end of the tubular member 3 is out upwardly and is provided witha. threaded socket for receivin the threaded end 8 of the boss or hub 90 bottom 10, said bottom being connected in any desired manner with theside walls 111 of Serial No. 653,994.

the cup 7. Preferahly,'the side walls 11. are of glass so that the levelof the oil may be readily observed while the bottom 10 is of metal andthe hub 9 projects therefrom and presents a casing for theneedle valve 5and a threaded socket for receiving the threaded lower end of the tube6. The valve 5 is held in place in the usual manner of needle valves andmay be adjusted to permit the discharge of any desired quantity of oilaccording to the pressure used in the cylinder 1. i

The pipe 6 is provided with, a number of apertures 12 for the freepassageway of oil from the cup 7 into the pipe 8. A suitable cap orcovering 15 is connected in any suitable manner to the upper ends of thewalls 11, the entire cup 7 being soc-onnected together as to withstandan appreciable pressure.

In operation, when pressure is injected or generated in the pressurechamber 16, it will naturally move the piston 2 on its power stroke andsome of the air, gas or explosive matter forming the impelling mediumwill enter the passage-way 4 and pass upwardly through the pipe 6 intothe upper part of the cup 7 so as to provide pressure above the oil inthe .cup. As soon as the power stroke to return, the pressure in theupper part of the cup 7 will then force a given quantit of oil into thecylinder. continues until the piston 2 closes the passageway 4 or untilthere is an equilibrium between the pressure in the cylinder .1 and inthe cup 7. If the engine should stop with the piston 2 uncovering thepassagewn y 4, oil will flow in until the rarefaction in the cup 7 issuch that the pressure in the larger or smaller amount of oil may becaused to flow into the cylinder 1 by ad justing the needle valve 5manually but when once adjusted only a certain amount will be fed in ateach stroke of the piston.

has been completed and the. piston begins The flow of 011 The use of theneedle valve 5 is to regulate the amount of gas, air or steam. passingthrough to the upper part of the cup. Naturally, the more that isallowed to pass through, the greater the pressure and the greater theamount of oil fed. It also acts as a friction device which will allowthe passage of oil only when the pressure in the top of the cupaccumulates and. is of sufiicient force to feed the oil before anotherimpulse is received. The idea of forcing oil into the cylinder isimportant in that it helps the rings of the piston to maintain a tightjoint. By actual test, it has been found that a cylinder not properlylubricated allows more of an impulse to pass the piston rings than whenit is properly lubricated. This is due to the fact that the walls of thecylinder are completely covered with a thin film of oil when properlylubricated. When this film breaks up at any part, the piston rings areheld away from the walls of the cylinder a very short distance andthereby this makes an opening through which the pressure from theexplosion bide rushes. While probably very much of the explosion doesnot come through, yet there is quite an impulse or pressure formedbetween the first and second rings. This is varied according to thelubrication, suiticient lubrication allowing very little of the impulseto come through and, consequently, the arrangement of the needle valve 5and the cup as described, permits a. substan tially accurate amount ofoil to be fed according to the speed of the piston and also otherconditions. It will be evident also that the cup will operateefiiciently on steam engines as well as air compressors.

In the case of steam engines, the cups are preferably placed just belowthe throttle and'the opening of the valve in the steam chest causes aslight fluctuation in the pressure which can be taken advantage of byregulating the needle valve 5.

What I claim is 1. An oil cup for lubricating engines, comprising acontainer formed with a bot tom having a boss or hub, said boss or hubhaving a threaded socket and a restricted passage-way extending from thesocket, a needle valve arranged in said hub and adapted to restrict saidpassage-way according to the position of the valve, a tubular memberscrewed into said socket extending to near the top of said container,said tubular member having a plurality of apertures arranged therein atdifferent levels. and a member having a restricted passageway conneetedwith said hub and adapted to connect said cup with an engine cylinder ata point covered by the piston of the engine when starting its powerstroke.

2. An oil cup for lubricating engines comprising a container having anapertured bottom, a tubular member connected with said bottom so as todischarge directly into the aperture in said bottom, said tubular memberextending near the top of said container, said tubular member havingapertures arranged at difierent levels, and a member having a restrictedpassageway connected with said bottom and adapted to connect said cupwith an engine cylinder at a pointcovered by the piston of the enginewhen starting its power stroke.

LESLIE CARL DUTRO.

